As of June 2021, the analytical capabilities of our digital platform SynaptiQ got a serious boost. Our Asset Operations users can now benefit from more in-depth insights on production losses, building further on the power of the digital twin.
The Simulation Framework 2.0. improves the expected performance metrics of PV plants, extracting more value from the digital twin. This virtual copy of the solar asset, which is created for each site in the platform, allows for an accurate simulation of the PV plant under the actual operating meteorological conditions. In SynaptiQ you can compare down to the level of each inverter input, the observed versus the expected behaviour, bringing your analytics toolset to the next level. As an advanced option, the expected losses can be split up in loss types, similar to design software like PVsyst. This detailed split-up can be used to compare the expected losses with those envisaged at the design phase.
The focus on improved expected performance is very relevant in this watershed moment for the solar industry, as our customer Roel Stessens, Senior Product & Project Engineer at IZEN, explains:
“The market is expecting ever higher performance warranties. Because of the reduced margin for losses, the warranties based on performance ratio (PR) are attaining their limits. In the past few years, increasing DC/AC ratio in new plants, combined with high irradiation and high temperatures, have led to the paradoxical combination of high yield and low PR."
"We believe the Energy Performance Index (EPI), comparing simulated production with actual production, is a more suitable method moving forward. Having a complete and reliable performance model in SynaptiQ will make it possible to calculate EPI directly without having to export data to another simulation software. Especially if we can use the same model in the design phase, the comparison will become very straightforward in the future”
